Outer Space & Universe
Outer Space & Universe
Space, also known as outer space, is the near-vacuum between celestial bodies. It is where everything (all of the planets, stars, galaxies and other objects) is found.
On Earth, space begins at the Kármán line (100 km above sea level). This is where Earth's atmosphere is said to stop and outer space begins. This is not a firm boundary but is a convention used by scientists and diplomats.
Items in space are free to move back and forth; up and down; and left and right. These three dimensions are what make 3D space. Items also move forward through time, which is sometimes called the fourth dimension.
The majority of space contains very little matter and so most of it is a vacuum. Scientists do not know how big space is but we do know that space is extremely big, and is always expanding.
According to the big bang theory, all matter and energy in the Universe was compressed into a very small space. Then it exploded and started expanding. Space is still growing in size today; this means the distance from one galaxy to distant galaxies is getting longer.
Gravity is the force that keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth and the planets in orbit around the Sun. Gravity can stretch and bend space similar to how a heavy ball placed on a stretched sheet of rubber will cause the rubber to stretch. The scientist who discovered that space can bend is named Albert Einstein. How gravity bends space is part of his theory of general relativity.
Astronauts, Cosmonauts, Taikonauts and Spationauts
An astronaut is any person who is trained by NASA to travel and perform tasks in space. Although the space traveler may not necessarily be a United States citizen, each astronaut does go through a rigorous training regiment by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Other space travelers go by other names then astronaut depending on their country of origin.
In the United States, astronaut is derived from the Greek words ástron (star) and nautis (sailor). While, in Russia, a space traveler goes by the name космонавт (English: cosmonaut), which is derived from the Greek words kosmos (universe) and nautis (sailor). Westerners call a space traveler from China a taikonaut, based on the 1998 writings of Chiew Lee Yik and Chen Lan where the term tàikōng (great emptiness), Chinese for “space”. In China, the term yuháng yuán (universe navigator) is used for space traveler.
Only the United States of America (United States), Russia (earlier, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), and the People’s Republic of China (China) have sent manned spacecraft into space. Other countries have assisted these countries by sending their own space travelers on space missions. For instance, a French space traveler is called a spationaut (from the French word spationaute), which is derived from the Latin spatium (space) and Greek nautis (sailor). (plural in Greek nautes = sailors)
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01:17
Certain Doom Soon for Sun-Diving Comet | Video
Added 768 Views / 0 LikesNASA's SOHO spacecraft's cameras have been following a ~32-foot wide Kreutz family comet on its way to its fiery demise on October 10th, 2013. A comet of this size has a small chance of survival.
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01:17
Sun Sucks Up A Couple Of Comets| Video
Added 720 Views / 0 LikesNASA's SOHO has imaged a small comet disintegrating on October 8th, 2013 and a larger on-track to burn up on October 10th.
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01:08
Comet's Death-Plunge Into Sun Snapped By Spacecraft | Video
Added 855 Views / 0 LikesA sun-diving Kreutz-family comet came to its conclusion on Oct. 10, 2013. NASA's SOHO was on hand to witness it.
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02:15
Deploying Sunjammer's Massive Solar Sail | Video
Added 756 Views / 0 LikesIn November 2014, NASA will launch the Sunjammer with the worlds largest solar sail, which will unfurl from the compact spacecraft.
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03:50
Sunjammer, The First Navigable Solar Sail And Worlds Largest | Video
Added 783 Views / 0 LikesThe Sunjammer spacecraft will use a massive solar sail as propulsion in space on a mission to monitor the sun, test out the technology, and inspire people and businesses around the world with an innovative space technology.
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02:06
Rosetta's Long Journey To Comet Almost Over | Video
Added 844 Views / 0 LikesRosetta's decade long trip to comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko out near the orbit of Jupiter is nearly over and in 100 days time the spacecraft will be woken from it's deep-space hibernation.
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01:27
Virgin Galactic Hosts Future Astronauts At Space Port | VIdeo
Added 806 Views / 0 LikesSir Richard Branson and George Whitesides talk about the Space tourism company's future at the largest gathering of future astronauts to date. The 'Your Flight DNA' event was hosted at Mojave Air and Space Port.
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03:31
Virgin Galactic Promos Sub-Orbital SpaceShipTwo Flights | Video
Added 763 Views / 0 LikesSir Richard Branson reaches out to the public to join in on the adventure that their spaceliner will provide.
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01:37
SpaceX Grasshopper Makes Highest Hop Yet - Hexacopter Video
Added 671 Views / 0 LikesThe 10-story Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing (VTVL) vehicle rose to an altitude of 744m (2440 feet) on October 7th, 2013. A single camera hexacopter got closer than any previous flight, delivering the stunning view.
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05:15
India's First Mars Mission Prepares for Launch | Video
Added 688 Views / 0 LikesEngineers with the Indian Space research Organisation prepare the country's first Mars probe, the Mars Orbiter Mission, for its fall 2013 launch toward the Red Planet.
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02:21
Astronomers Peer Into Supermassive Black Hole Jets | Video
Added 955 Views / 0 LikesUsing the Atacama Large Millimeter/submilimeter Array in Chile, astronomers probed the supermassive black holes that are at the center of most galaxies, principally to analyze the molecular gas their massive gravity wells propel into powerful jets.
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03:44
Video Captures SpaceX's 'Re-Lightable' Engine
Added 721 Views / 0 LikesRocketCam's video of the September 29th, 2013 launch, saw the upgraded rocket's first stage separation and an engine restart - key to making fully re-usable boosters that can fly often.
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08:50
James Woods' 'Futurescape' Promises Sci-Tech Prophecy | Video Interview
Added 745 Views / 0 LikesHow soon will people and machines become one? What are the ethical implications of living for hundreds or thousands of years? James Woods visits with LiveScience reporters @DavidSkyBrody and @JillScharr to explain his new Science Channel series.
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01:13
Aurora's Flow Over Sweden's Lake Torneträsk | Time-Lapse Video
Added 862 Views / 0 LikesChad Blakley (lightsoverlapland.com) captured footage of the aurora borealis on Oct 17th, 2013. The lake is the sixth largest body of water in Sweden and is located in Abisko National Park.
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01:21
Star Murdered, Suspect Medium-Sized Black Hole | Video
Added 765 Views / 0 LikesJust a few hundred thousand times our Sun's mass, the hungry singularity in dwarf galaxy 47 Abell 1795 munched on a nearby star for at least 6 years, while the Chandra X-ray Observatory watched.
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03:57
Pluto 'Up-Close' Coming Soon: Spacecraft's Historic Encounter | Video
Added 808 Views / 0 LikesNASA's New Horizon spacecraft left Earth in 2006 and is quickly approaching its fly-by of the icy dwarf plant and its moons. Its closest approach will occur on July 14th, 2015.
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02:02
2 Supermassive Black Holes To Merge When Galaxies Collide | Video
Added 795 Views / 0 LikesTwo Milky Way-sized spiral galaxies (the NGC 6240 system) will eventually become one elliptical galaxy with a mass of 10 billion Suns harboring one mega-singularity. The merger may touch off huge gravity waves. Read more about the merger here: http://goo.
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01:41
Nearest Brown Dwarf Star Shows Moody Atmosphere
Added 786 Views / 0 LikesEuropean Southern Observatory astronomers have mapped the mood of the closest brown dwarf star to the Sun. By comparing atmospheres of stars, scientists may learn to predicting solar weather and our Sun's long term climate variations. -- Read More Here: h
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02:26
Misfit Magnetar Conceals Its 'Allure' Beneath The Surface | Video
Added 825 Views / 0 LikesA highly magnetic neutron star (Magnetar SGR 0418) has a much weaker magnetic field at its surface than others of its kind, but can still muster high-energy flares. Researchers believe a strong magnetic field lies tightly wrapped beneath its surface.
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01:11
Galactic Collisions Fuel Supermassive Black Holes | Video
Added 828 Views / 0 LikesThe graceful gravitational dance of two colliding galaxies can feed the supermassive black holes at their center, rearranging and heating up the gas within these galaxies as seen in this simulation.